Breakthrough Awards Atomic Betty Licensing To Joy Tashjian

Breakthrough Animation has awarded worldwide licensing representation for its animated series ATOMIC BETTY to Joy Tashjian Marketing Group LLC.

Breakthrough Animation Inc., the newly-established animation production, marketing and distribution division of leading Canadian producer Breakthrough Films & Television, recently signed Cartoon Network as the broadcast home for ATOMIC BETTY, in the U.S.

Joy Tashjian is a highly respected licensing executive with an impressive track record of success, said Kevin Gillis, a managing partner of Breakthrough Animation and exec producer. While several companies pursued the licensing representation for ATOMIC BETTY, Joy Tashjians licensing program was clearly the most compelling and comprehensive. We look forward to benefiting from Joys extensive experience as her company launches ATOMIC BETTY to the global licensing community, said Gillis.

From my first introduction to ATOMIC BETTY, we immediately began to aggressively pursue the worldwide licensing rights of this uniquely engaging comedy-adventure animated series. We are completely confident that ATOMIC BETTY will emerge as a major worldwide kids entertainment franchise and a must-have for broadcasters as well as licensees across all key consumer categories, said Tashjian.

ATOMIC BETTY follows the adventures of Betty, a little girl with a big secret. To her friends and family, little Betty is the sweet and brainy girl next door, but when the galaxy beckons, she sheds her humdrum persona and becomes: "Atomic Betty, Galactic Guardian and Defender of the Cosmos."

The series represents the first major original production for Breakthrough Animation, which was formed in spring 2003 by television industry execs Kevin Gillis, Ira Levy and Peter Williamson. ATOMIC BETTY was created by ATOMIC CARTOONS and developed by Breakthrough Animation and Fresh Produce. An official Canada-France co-production, the series is produced by Breakthrough Animation Inc. and Atomic Cartoons with Tele-Images Kids with the participation of the Shaw Fund and the Canadian Television Fund.

Joy Tashjian Marketing Group was formed in 2000 by Tashjian, a licensing and broadcast sales executive with more than 25 years of industry experience. JTMG services range from television property development to global broadcast sales and consumer product licensing.JTMG clients include NBC-TV for its hits FEAR FACTOR, WILL & GRACE, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN OBRIEN, LAS VEGAS and ACCESS HOLLYWOOD; GRB/Joel Silver Prods. for the series NEXT ACTION STAR, Fathom Studios for the theatrical production of DELGO, the motion picture and Levymann Entertainment for the companys ITTY BITTY HEARTBEATS.

In addition to Cartoon Network U.S., Breakthrough Animation has licensed ATOMIC BETTY for broadcast to more than 40 territories worldwide, including the U.K., Australia, Italy, South-East Asia, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

Breakthrough Films and Television is a producer of popular childrens, factual, drama and lifestyle programming. Over the past 20 years, Levy and Williamson have produced more than 250 half-hours of programming in 2003.